Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 18--Sit Still

"Stop!"

A loud bang surprised me. I stared, unable to believe what just happened.

The door closed. I had overpowered the Beast.

He didn't move. I looked at his back from my seat on the ground, waiting for the yell of anger or the look of surprise.

Nothing came. He didn't move an inch. Not even his extended arm that reached for the door.

My eyes widened. I didn't... I stopped him from moving. I had made him stop.

I overpowered the Beast's magic, and by doing so, I had stopped him.

I got up from the ground carefully. The glass shards beneath my feet crunched as I stepped on them--thankfully, I had enough sense to put on shoes before I had come to the room. A metal object in the corner caught my eye.

His mask.

I walked over to it, still watching the Beast as I did so. He didn't move. I could feel his eyes following me as I bend to retrieve the mask. I held the cool surface in my hands, feeling the intricate designs embedded in the mask.

I was faced with three choices. I could either have gone up to him facing him and hand him the mask, but if I did that, I would see him--something he had made clear that I wasn't supposed to do. The second choice would be to discard the mask altogether, which would still have allowed me to see him. The third choice, which was to climb across the bed and fasten the mask to the Beast's face, would have been the most respectful of my choices.

I swallowed, my mind made up. I crawled across the ripped bed, mask in hand, being careful not to touch anything. My heart felt like it was going to fly out of my throat. My feet hit the ground and I stood, no more than three feet away from the Beast. I could see his trembling, whether it was in fear or anger, I didn't know. I stepped up to him, my eyes coming to the middle of his shoulder blades.

I held out the mask, reaching underneath his outstretched arm. "Here," I whispered. "You can have it."

As if on cue, he stopped shaking. He breathed in deeply. Very slowly, as if he were afraid he would spook me, he grabbed the mask from my outstretched hand and moved it up towards his face. The black clasps dangled at his ears, giving the illusion of dreadlocks.

"Could you fasten it?" His voice was incredibly quiet.

I almost refused, but I looked down and say his other hand, hung limply at his side. Blood was dripping off of it and starting to form a small puddle below him. Without saying anything, I stood on my tiptoes and reached up, grabbing the clasps.

I swallowed, holding each strap in my hands uncomfortably. I had no idea how to fasten his mask. "Just tie them, or..."

"There's a clip on each one. Just hook them together." His voice was gentle. I could literally feel the banging of his heart as I pressed myself close to him, trying to clip the clasps together. I was sure that my heartbeat was no different.

A small clip told me that I hooked it right. "There you go," I said, back away.

As soon as I had stepped backward, a shudder ran through the Beast. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground, putting his good arm out to catch himself. I looked at the door and considered leaving for less than a second, then turned back to where I was needed.

"Here." I tried to smile a little as I draped the Beast's good arm around my shoulders and helped him hoist himself off the ground. My mind wandered over to the bed for a second, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

"Can you make it downstairs?" I asked.

He nodded his head. "Yeah," he whispered. "I know a place we could go."